Happy Hawkers

Sometimes, the accolades that hawker stalls would place outside their stalls could become a double-edged sword. And that was probably what happened to Feng Zhen Lor Mee which was newly open at the renovated coffee shop here at Ang Mo Kio.

Although the big signboard that mentioned about their media coverage and Michelin Guide image, I was not very impressed with the quality of the food, which to me was just an ordinary bowl of Lor Mee. But if taste was not a big thing to go for, I would say the S$4.00 bowl would have quite an acceptable portion of ingredients.

Everything in this bowl of signature Wanton Mee was quite mediocre in my opinion. Perhaps the S$5.00 bowl must be complete with their red chilli sauce, but for those who did not fancy the spice or heat in their noodles, this item might just be meant as a “eat to live” food more than a “live to eat”.

Though the portion of the chicken might not have been as big as back in those days, the Chicken Chop (S$6.50) here was still prepared in the very old-school format, where every plate still came with baked beans, coleslaw, fries and a slice of baguette.

And not forgetting to specially mention the middle-aged crew here who had served in the previous Ang Mo Kio S11 stall and were still fighting strong now. But I would also wonder if they would hand over to a new generation of hawkers next time…

During meal hours, 9-11 Teochew Fish Soup Rice Porridge (#01-30) would welcome a queue of hungry customers who craved for their fish soup and carb pairings of either rice, Bee Hoon, Mee Sua or Ee Mee.

The Mixed Fish Soup (S$5.00 / S$7.00) comprised both the sliced Batang fish and its fried version, together with iceberg lettuce, tomato and sliced bitter gourd. Adding of milk would be optional according to individual preference. The soup was comforting with little unnecessary flavourings, but I would think that the sliced fish was more delicious than the fried fish as the latter was spotted resting for quite a while, thus not as fresh to the bite somehow.

If a Goreng Pisang is too much for a snack, these addictive fried Banana Balls (S$2.00 for 5 pieces) would be the best sharing snacks with colleagues and friends. The only problem might be…… would you really share these calories with others after downing one?

After a change of operators, the coffee shop was taken over to become Nam Wah Coffee Shop and offering a range of hawker favourites, but what I was most excited about was Ishiro Fusion Bowl which used to be housed at Nanyang Polytechnic.

Fast forward a couple of years, their menu seemed to have also expanded with a few more options. As I tried their Mentaiko Salmon Bowl (S$10.90), I was happy that they also topped the rice bowl with tempura crumbs for that extra texture. I guessed the greatest impression of this item was the extra creamy feel to the rice, as though the rice was coated with cream after mixing everything well. Then again, not everyone might like such a creamy feel, therefore I would say, proceed with caution.

But if there was something I would truly desire from this visit, was that they could really invest in plastic bowls, just for the sake of supporting environmental friendliness.

Thank goodness for a good number of hawker stalls from the previous Golden Shoe to stay on and eventually move to Market Street Hawker Centre at CapitaSpring Level 2! While the facilities had definitely made a marvellous facelift, Hock Gooi Hainanese Curry Rice continued to feed the mouths of the average salarymen (and women of course) over here with affordable Hainanese curry rice.

Most of their default sets here would cost S$3.50, with a fried egg, cabbage, and a scoop of curry sauce (you could of course say no if curry’s not a charm). I ordered the Pork Chop which I felt was slightly over-seasoned, but it was easily balanced off with a mouthful of curry rice. The two lady stallholders were really sweet to remind me that the curry would also be more densely flavoured (read: salty) too, but it was really reasonably seasoned in my opinion.

Food might not be above average, but it brought about warmth as well as a filled tummy at affordable prices.

One of the newer kids in the block was Blanco Court Beef Noodles, which offered their S$18.80 Burpple Beyond deal, comprising two bowls of Sliced Beef Noodles (choice of Soup or Dry), two Homemade Drinks and two Small Side Dishes.

What I liked about their dry noodles (Thick Bee Hoon to be exact) was that it would come with the thick beef gravy that would coat the carbs and the sliced beef well. Did I also mention that the sliced beef was really tender and well-cooked, so it made the meal very comforting, rain or shine.

As for their side dishes, although there were 9 side dishes to choose from, I would personally recommend the Oyster Sauce Nai Bai and their Signature Chicken Wings to go with the meal, just to make it more complete and at the same time have some vegetables on the plate.

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Ah Chiang’s Porridge might be tucked at one corner and seemed to be moving kind of slowly here, but it was also at such a relaxed pace to feel the weekend vibes.

The Minced Meat Porridge (S$4.50) was, indeed, simple. Though it might not be easy to notice traces of the minced meat, I was still drawn to the smoothness of the congee and its light flavours. For more variety to the meal, one could simply order some vegetables or fried tofu to supplement the congee.

When I learnt that our local MasterChef finalist opened a Mee Hoon Kway stall, I had wanted to try it but thought that it was a little out of reach based on where I am currently staying. Little did I know that Jiak Song had silently expanded to a few outlets islandwide, and Bugis being one of them.

Being a big fan of Mee Hoon Kway, I ordered a Signature All-in-One Combo (S$5.50) with an extra portion of Mee Hoon Kway for an additional S$1.00. The first surprise I received was an unexpected charcoal taste coming from the soup, which to me were both a “wow” and an “ouch”. The former was because it made me believe that there was some traditional ways of preparing the broth, which when coupled with the handmade noodles made it pretty exceptional for me. There were also many ingredients within the bowl, and so since the bowl was filled to the brim, I felt like a winner already.

On the other hand, I was a little disappointed when the stallholder ran the piece of noodle dough under the roller for a consistency in thickness, but I did wish that the Kway was thicker as a personal preference. And I later found out that the broth in another outlet had absence of the light charcoal flavour.

In all, Jiak Song would have checked many boxes of a delicious bowl of Mee Hoon Kway, but I also might not intentionally head down for a hearty meal.

Beauty in a Bowl (#02-130) was a dessert stall that specialised in peach gum desserts. Peach gum, a trending ingredient, was known to be rich in collagen (something that young folks would subscribe to for youthful, healthy skin). And their Signature dessert (S$3.60) was like a bowl of Cheng Teng with peach gum jelly mixed in.

The price of the dessert had likely accounted for the inclusion of the peach gum jelly, and a bowl of cold dessert was splendid for a super warm day. My only reservation was that this might be more of an occasional treat than a daily bowl, especially if a regular bowl of Cheng Teng might also do the trick.

Recently, a special feature on 8 Days brought a lot of attention to Hong Style Fried Rice, a hawker stall in Ang Mo Kio that specialised in fried rice. The owner, who was previously the assistant chef supervisor from Din Tai Fung, decided to start his own business and hop on the bandwagon to fried rice paradise.

Their Golden Egg Fried Rice with Pork Chop (S$6.50) looked like a familiar sight like what we would see from the famous restaurant. In my opinion, I felt that the fried rice was nicely coated with eggs, but the staple appeared to be minutely on the bland side. On the other hand, the freshly marinated pork chop carried stronger flavours, but because the fried rice tasted mild on sodium, both items combined would actually be just nice altogether.

Interestingly, I also noticed that many diners would take scoops of their chilli sauce to complement the rice. That could be something I would try the next time round.

At the moment, the business made some changes to their menu to cater to the snaking queues that came over to support. I would most likely come back in a month’s time, just to see if the food would taste more consistently than when they had to rush their orders.

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